Barcelona star's agent announces departure

What's the story?

Arda Turan's agent, Ahmed Bulut has confirmed that the player wants to leave Barcelona and has agreed a deal with Basaksehir. He also put paid to any chances of the player moving to the Premier League or to former club, Galatasaray.

Speaking to Turkish TV, Bulut said, "Arda Turan wants to return to Istanbul, has reached an agreement with the Basaksehir and does not want to evaluate other proposals." .

CASO ARDA #mercatoAgente de Arda, Bulut: "Quiere volver a Estambul, ha llegado a un acuerdo con el Basaksehir y no quiere evaluar otras propuestas"

— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) January 10, 2018

In case you didn't know...

Arda Turan was educated at Galatasaray in his youth, and becoming a first-team fixture later on before making a move abroad to Atletico Madrid in 2011, with the Rojiblancos parting with 13 million for his services. After winning La Liga in 2013/14 with Atletico, Turan moved to Barcelona for a massive €34 million (+ €7 million in add-ons) in 2015. Curiously enough, Barcelona had a transfer ban at the time, and Turan was only able to play the following year, making his debut in January.

The heart of the matter

Barcelona have played 29 games this season in all competitions, and Arda Turan has not played a single minute of the 2017/18 season, making the matchday squad only once as Ernesto Valverde has made it quite clear that the Turkish star is not part of his plans. Turan is on quite high wages at Barcelona, and Bulut confirmed that had he stayed until the end of his contract 2 years from now, the midfielder would earn €20 million.

Earlier in the day, Basaksehir President Goksel Gumusdag spoke about the talks, saying “I spoke to Arda Turan face to face in Barcelona," he said via Basaksehir's official website. "He wants to come to Basaksehir. I saw his passion and he told me his goals. After that, we met with Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau.”

“Barcelona's approach is positive about this transfer. We would like to sign Arda, despite the high cost. Our two sponsors are willing to help with the transfer process. I understand the media are excited and I'm so excited too, but we have to wait. We have a couple of steps to go in order to finish the deal." he added.

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Author's Take

Barcelona fans will no doubt be glad to see the back of Turan, but it is still rather unfortunate to see how the player has regressed ever since his move to the Nou Camp. Arda Turan might revive his career back in the Turkish Super Lig, although Galatasaray fans will surely not forgive him moving to Basaksehir.